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Dutch Mother Opposes Voyage of 13-Year-Old

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The mother of a 13-year-old whose hopes of becoming the youngest sailor to circle the globe solo were put on hold by a Dutch court says she is opposed to the voyage.

The woman, Babs Muller, was quoted in the newspaper Volkskrant as saying that her daughter, Laura Dekker, had the technical capability to make the trip but that she was not mature enough to deal with the psychological challenges of two years of being on her own.

“If it were up to me, Laura wouldn’t go,” Ms. Muller told the paper.

“She can sail like the devil, that’s not the problem,” she said. But her daughter, she added, “is not yet grown up.”

It was the first public comment on the planned voyage by Ms. Muller, who Volkskrant had earlier reported was unopposed.

A court on Aug. 29 ordered Laura placed in the custody of child-care authorities for two months, and appointed a child psychologist to report on her capacity to cope with the risks of the voyage and lengthy isolation.